Money No Enough

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Money No Enough
VCD cover for Money No Enough
Directed byTay Teck Lock
Written byJack Neo
Produced byJ.P. Tan
Starring
CinematographyKamis Bin Huri
Edited byA. Supranamian
Distributed byShaw Organisation
Release date
  • 7 May 1998 (1998-05-07)
Running time
98 minutes
CountrySingapore
Languages
Cantonese

Money No Enough (

S$5.8 million and was the all-time highest-grossing Singaporean film until 2012. Its success helped revive the Singaporean film industry
and pave the way for the emergence of other Singaporean cultural phenomena.

It was followed by a second standalone installment titled Money No Enough 2, which was directed by Neo, and also starring Thia, Lee and Neo himself, and was released during the National Day period on 31st July 2008.[1] A third standalone installment titled Money No Enough 3, was also directed by Neo and also stars Lee, Thia and Neo himself, and is released during Chinese New Year period on the 1st February 2024.[2]

Plot

Chew Wah Keong, a spendthrift white-collar worker; Ah Ong, a general contractor; and Liang Chao Hui, a kopi tiam waiter are three close and best friends. After an argument with his boss, Keong quits his job but is unable to get another due to his poor command of English, lack of academic qualifications and computer illiteracy. With bills (especially instalments) to pay and a family to support, he goes heavily into debt whereupon his wife leaves him and takes their daughter with her. Ong borrows S$40,000 from loan sharks, and plans to repay them after collecting a debt owed him by a friend who subsequently runs away. The loan sharks beat up Ong for not repaying the loan within the two-week deadline, so he flees to Johor Bahru. Hui, who is single and lives with his elderly mother, wastes his meagre salary on 4D and pursues an insurance agent who he has a crush on.

In an attempt to resolve their financial problems, the three friends decide to start a car polishing business together with the limited

leukaemia
. Hui has three wealthy older sisters, but they refuse to help pay the medical bills, and his application for financial assistance is rejected because of his sisters' high incomes. To compound matters, the loan sharks show up at the company to harass Ong. Ong and Hui ask to cash out their shares so they can pay the loan sharks and medical bills respectively, but all their money has already been spent on equipment and other business running costs. Hui's mother then dies.

At the wake of Hui's mother, which raises ten thousand dollars of bai jin (contributions toward funeral expenses), the loan sharks turn up, pursue Ong and are arrested after a lengthy police chase. Keong convinces his wife and daughter to enter an obstacle race where they win the first prize of S$100,000, which he uses to pay his creditors, and his family is reunited. The car polishing business is successful, and the three friends become the directors of Autoglym Singapore.

Cast

  • Jack Neo as Chew Wah Keong
  • Mark Lee as Ah Ong
  • Henry Thia as Liang Chao Hui
  • Patricia Mok as Jojo
  • John Cheng as the 1st loan shark
  • Liu Lingling as Liang Chao Hui's 1st and eldest sister
  • Eileen Wee as Susan, Jojo's close and best friend and Liang Chao Hui's love interest
  • Tony Kim Ju Gong as Old Chen, Chew Wah Keong's old good and best friend
  • Ernest Seah as Jeremiah Lee, Chew Wah Keong's new employee and later supervisor and manager
  • Chen Zhao Jin as Chew Wah Keong's Boss, later former boss
  • Tan Cheng Bee as Chew Wah Keong's mother
  • Inez Goh as Chew Wah Keong's daughter
  • Lim Siew Keng as Liang Chao Hui's 2nd sister
  • Feng Li Ming as Liang Chao Hui's 3rd sister
  • Alex Lee Han Kwan as 2nd loan shark
  • Sim Gee Sing as 3rd loan shark
  • Abigail Chay as Abigail
  • Henry Wong as Liang Chao Hui's 1st Brother-In-Law
  • Chris Tan Hock Hai as Liang Chao Hui's 3rd Brother-In-Law

Production

In the 1990s, Neo, Lee and Thia became well known in Singapore for their performances in the

Wade-Giles: Kao hsiao hsin tung), notably in the Liang Po Po and Liang Xi Mei sketches.[3] Neo then acted in the 1997 Eric Khoo film 12 Storeys, and saw potential in the then virtually nonexistent local film industry.[4] He wrote a screenplay about expatriates in the advertising agency (which was later featured in the 2002 film I Not Stupid) but decided that the concept would not appeal to most Singaporeans, so he thought of writing a story about Ah Bengs (uneducated Chinese men, an example being noticed in the popular Singaporean local sitcom known as Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, where the titular character Phua Chu Kang (Gurmit Singh) was an example of an Ah Beng, and a general contractor and white-collar worker as well, just like Lee's and Neo's character Ong and Keong in this film respectively. Phua Chu Kang was also later mentioned by Ben (Hossan Leong) in the 2002 film I Not Stupid whilst talking about the use of Singlish), drawing on the humble backgrounds of Lee, Thia and himself.[5] Inspired, he contacted Tay Teck Lock, a former producer for Channel 8, and suggested they collaborate. They decided on a plot about three Singaporean men facing financial difficulties. Neo spent eight months writing the script, while Tay helped develop the characters and jokes.[1] Despite the Speak Mandarin Campaign, Neo chose to use Hokkien dialogue to "reflect real life" and "reach a different audience".[5][6]

Money No Enough was produced by JSP Films on a budget of

film editor, Anthony Ng as art director and Abdul Shukar Mohd as sound designer.[8] Filming was plagued by financial problems, such as poor quality shooting equipment. After the Board of Film Censors reviewed and approved Money No Enough,[5][6] distributor Shaw Organisation released the film on 21 screens on 7 May 1998.[6][8][9] The success of the movie led to a dispute between Neo and Producer over their shares of the profits.[10] To mark its tenth anniversary, Money No Enough was released in cinemas again and was followed by a sequel, Money No Enough 2.[1]

Reception

Money No Enough earned S$50,000 from

TalkingCock.[13]

The movie received a mixed critical reception with LoveHKFilm.com commending the film as "an effective satire of...Singaporean culture" and noted that the actors "do a credible job representing characters from Singapore's varying social strata",[14] while a Variety review described the movie as "initially fresh and amusing but ultimately too one-note and local in its humor to travel far".[15] Francis Dass of the New Straits Times wrote that Money No Enough was "spot-on" and "funny", but criticised the "clichéd script and the director's penchant for melodrama".[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c Mak Mun San, "Life after Money No Enough", The Sunday Times, 11 May 2008.
  2. ^ "梁志强将开拍《钱不够用3》 2024年农历新年期间上映". 8world Entertainment Lifestyle (in Chinese (Singapore)). 3 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  3. ^ Teo Pau Lin, "Underdogs now roar with success", The Sunday Times, 24 May 1998.
  4. ^ a b Karl Ho, "Jack Neo's touch of class", The Straits Times, 31 January 2002.
  5. ^ a b c "Borrow from Ah Long?", The Straits Times, 7 May 1998.
  6. ^ a b c d Andrea Hamilton, "The Money Pours In", Asiaweek, 26 June 1998.
  7. ^ "$2m record for Money No Enough", The Straits Times, 26 May 1998.
  8. ^
    Allrovi
    . Last accessed 31 July 2011.
  9. ^ a b Ong Sor Fern, "Delirious over Teenage sale", The Straits Times, 26 November 1998.
  10. The Business Times
    , 15 August 1998.
  11. ^ a b Camilla Chiam, "Two Jack Neo movies slug it out", The Straits Times, 12 June 2002.
  12. ^ Kelvin Tong, "Market here no enough", The Straits Times, 18 September 1999.
  13. ^ John Lui, "Enough already", The Straits Times, 30 July 2008.
  14. ^ "Money No Enough (SINGAPORE 1998) Archived 2021-01-02 at the Wayback Machine", www.lovehkfilm.com. Last accessed 31 July 2011.
  15. ^ "Elley, Derek. Money No Enough Review Archived 2021-08-03 at the Wayback Machine", Variety. Last accessed 31 July 2011.
  16. The New Straits Times
    , 24 August 1998.

External links

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